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Tornadoes Kill At Least 10 In Missouri As Storms Track East; U.S. Special Envoy To Brief Trump Following Meeting With Putin; Zelenskyy Urges U.S. To Put Pressure On Putin To End War; Democrats Divided After Senate Approves GOP Funding Bill. Senate Democratic Leadership Split On Funding Bill; Deadly Storms Tear Across Central U.S. Causing Widespread Damage; Appeals Court Allows Trump To Enact Anti-DEI Executive Orders; DOGE Proposes Cutting U.S. IRS Workforce By Another 20 Percent; Audio From 911 Call In Idaho Murders Case Reveals Details; Trump Holds Politicized "Law And Order" Speech At DOJ. Aired 12-1pm ET

Aired March 15, 2025 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:00:00]

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: -- even as they continue their fight for survival.

That's all we have time for. Don't forget, you can find all of our shows online and podcasts at CNN.com/audio and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in New York. Thank you for watching and see you again next week, back in London.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We're tracking breaking news at this hour. Severe storms tearing across parts of the central and southeastern U.S. right now. A second round of punishing weather following a deadly tornado outbreak overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's here. It's here. Look at all that debris. Oh my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in a tornado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in a --

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WHITFIELD: Very frightening stuff and deadly tornadoes have killed at least 10 people in Missouri. And at least three deaths in Arkansas are being blamed on the severe weather, which ripped down trees, flattened homes, as you see right there, battered communities with hail and heavy rain.

The same storm system fueling wildfires as high winds whipped across Texas and Oklahoma. Evacuation orders were issued as firefighters battled more than 130 fires across Oklahoma on Friday. The fast-moving flames destroyed multiple homes there and the danger is far from over. Millions more across the South are bracing to be hit by something and also facing significant tornado threats today.

CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is monitoring all the developments. I mean, that is just about every -- all the extreme weather conditions all at once.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and some people may end up getting all three at the same time. So that's going to be the other key thing to note. Look at all of these dots. It's kind of almost hard to see the map behind me.

These are all of the storm reports that have come in in the last 24 hours and that could be tornado reports, damaging wind reports, or even hail, some of them the size of tennis balls and baseballs coming in. We will continue to see those same threats as we go through the next 24 hours.

Here's a look at the storm. This is huge. Again, you're talking about portions of Southern Canada all the way down to the Gulf Coast dealing with some form of weather from this system. Snow off to the North, severe weather on portions of the East and then those strong dry winds fueling those fires out to the West.

Now we begin in the Southeastern portion because this is where we have the active tornado watch. The first one, the Western counties here, that's valid for about another two hours. The Eastern one here, this is valid until 6:00 p.m. Central time tonight. This one is labeled a PDS. That stands for Particularly Dangerous Situation.

They are saying that within this area, you could end up having some of those violent tornadoes. Now I want to emphasize to you, that is not a random adjective. Violent is the term used for EF4 and EF5 specific tornadoes.

That's what the Storm Prediction Center is saying is possible for today. Those type of tornadoes account for less than 1 percent of the tornadoes that we see across the country, but are attributed to 66 percent of fatalities. So again, please take this seriously.

As the storm continues to slide East, you're also seeing more of those embedded stronger storms begin to develop. So you have a lot of these severe thunderstorm warnings and even tornado warnings right now, as the line continues to spread Eastward.

These are all of the areas that could be impacted by the severe weather as we go through the next 24 hours. Obviously, the target point is this red and pink color here. But even in some of the orange and yellow, you still have the potential for the severe thunderstorms, just not as high of potential as some of these other areas. But all of them have the potential for a tornado outbreak. You could see very strong violent winds come out of this and also still some of those hailstones, the larger ones, at least golf ball or larger.

Here's a look at the timeline. As we go through the afternoon, you'll see it continue to spread Eastward. This is not exactly a fast moving system. So even by tonight, you're still seeing some of the same areas getting hit that were over the afternoon.

Overnight tonight, you're talking places like Atlanta, Knoxville. So if you live in those cities, please make sure you have a way to get those emergency alerts, because it's coming in overnight when most people are going to be sleeping. By early tomorrow morning, it starts to spread Eastward. So places like Charlotte, Columbia, South Carolina, that's when your target is going to be as early tomorrow morning.

Again, when we talk about specifically tornadoes, this looks very similar to the other map we showed you, but all of this area where you see the stripes, that's where you have the greatest chance of tornadoes that would be EF2 or stronger. So again, more of those significant types of tornadoes and even some that could be on the ground for significant amounts of time, 20, 30, 40, even 60 minutes.

[12:05:01]

We also have flooding, as if we didn't have enough to talk about, as it is. You also have the potential for flooding because a lot of these storms are going over the same spot over and over. So all of that rain is accumulating and it's doing it very quickly.

So some of these spots, Fred, could end up picking up three, four, even more than that inches of rain in a short period of time. So you also have the potential for flooding.

WHITFIELD: My goodness, I mean, this is really a something. And is this -- I mean, when you look at the calendar, I mean, this is considered kind of the spring-like systems that typically could happen, or is this a little early?

CHINCHAR: Right, so most of the severe weather kind of peaks like late April, most of May and early June. So we're on the front end, but March is usually when we start to see that upswing take place.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll check back with you. Thank you so much, Allison Chinchar. Appreciate that.

All right, so far, Missouri has seen the most deaths from these storms, at least 10 killed there overnight. We're going to be talking to a guest coming from that region in a minute to give us an idea of the severity, what families and communities are having to deal with.

All right, meantime, straight ahead, they call themselves the Coalition of the Willing. Countries who support Ukraine's security will hear their sharp response to Russia's reaction to a peace proposal next. Plus, quote, "Delete is one of their favorite terms", unquote. What IRS employees are saying about turmoil DOGE is causing inside the agency right at the height of tax season.

And a chilling 911 call in the Idaho college killing case just released new details on the chaos and confusion as the surviving roommate called for help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:11:17]

WHITFIELD: All right, we're continuing to follow breaking news. A life-threatening situation underway right now. Severe storms tearing across parts of the Central and Southeastern U.S. And so far, Missouri has seen many deaths from this storm. At least 10 killed overnight.

Joining us right now, Chief Tim Frankenberg from the Washington, Missouri Fire Department. Chief Frankenberg, great to see you. I know you're in the middle of, you know, emergency situation there. What are you learning about the circumstances around these deaths and also injuries?

CHIEF TIM FRANKENBERG, WASHINGTON, MISSOURI FIRE DEPARTMENT: So in our area, we did not have any fatalities in our county in the general area where we're at. It hit a little bit to the east of our area in Villa Ridge and Gray Summit, Missouri. So we're assisting with damage assessments this morning and basically seeing how far. It was a little further than what we first expected and what we saw last night.

WHITFIELD: And what are you seeing right now as you get out, you know, with daylight, observing the initial damage?

FRANKENBERG: Significant number of trees down, significant amount of power equipment down. Anything, major billboards along the interstates, buildings, severe destruction in the path of where the storm ran through.

WHITFIELD: I know you all are counting your blessings that you have, no reported deaths, as you just say there in your area of Washington, Missouri. But, you know, what are you bracing yourselves for as you get through some roads that might be impassable or complicated to get to certain communities? What are you bracing yourselves to see, witness, and in what capacity will you be able to help people?

FRANKENBERG: So right now, we're doing a coordination with a command post with Joint Command. And so there's a unified command. So we're working with other agencies, including Missouri Department of Transportation, the local utility, Ameren, for the power. They're bringing contractors in to help get things cleared out.

So, as we get things made safe, to be able to get through those wires and then tree trimming companies to come in, clear out, and then make those final assessments.

WHITFIELD: And what are the biggest obstacles thus far? I mean, power outages among them. What else?

FRANKENBERG: Trees, just the amount of debris, number of overturned tractor trailers, cars pushed around, billboards that have fallen, significant amounts of material. So it's just the debris. And the other problem, honestly, is a lot of people that want to look and take a look and see what the damage has been.

So traffic obviously is messed up because of the lack of lights. And so that's creating quite a bit of trouble as well.

WHITFIELD: So what is the message that you're trying to get out to people? You know, perhaps they have, you know, cell phone communication, maybe they don't have power, but in what forms of communication are you using and what is the message that you're sending?

FRANKENBERG: So right now is if there's an issue, dial 911 for assistance and the crews will get to you. If you're out there and you don't need to be in the area, stay away from the area for right now as these crews try to make contact with these residents and get a good storm assessment, to figure out where the damage is and how widespread this damage really is right now.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chief Tim Frankenberg of Washington, Missouri Fire, thank you so much. All the best in your continued efforts.

FRANKENBERG: Thank you. Have a great day.

WHITFIELD: All right, new this morning, we're learning that President Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is heading to Mar-a-Lago this weekend to brief the president on his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the week. The U.S. is proposing a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.

Putin says he agrees with a ceasefire, but wants conditions added, which include banning other countries from supplying weapons to Ukraine and halting any mobilization and training of Ukrainian troops, among other things.

[12:15:14]

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says Vladimir Putin's response to the proposal isn't good enough. His words, isn't good enough. Starmer was speaking following a meeting of a group of Ukraine's allies calling themselves the Coalition of the Willing.

CNN's Nic Robertson is joining us right now from London. Nic, walk us through this virtual meeting that Starmer had with Ukrainian allies.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, this Coalition of the Willing is growing. If you remember two weeks ago, it was a meeting in flesh. Prime Minister Keir Starmer greeting the leaders as they arrived. There were more leaders on this call today, not only the new Prime Minister from Canada, but the Prime Ministers of New Zealand, of Australia, of Japan also on the call. You had the E.U. presidents. You had the Secretary General of NATO. There were -- and many, many European countries as well. So maybe close, getting close to 30 different countries all represented on that call, all putting in their pitches and pledges.

And Starmer said, look, an awful lot has happened in these past couple of weeks, and that's why it's important to keep following up and keep pushing. And he said the big thing that had changed, obviously, was Ukraine. President Zelenskyy signing up to President Putin, President Trump's proposed peace plan of this 30-day ceasefire.

And as you sat there, Keir Starmer saying very clearly, the world is watching Putin right now. They don't want words, they want action. And he promised action from his Coalition of the Willing. This is what Starmer said.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We agreed we will keep increasing the pressure on Russia, keep the military aid flowing to Ukraine, and keep tightening restrictions on Russia's economy to weaken Putin's war machine and bring him to the table.

And we agreed to accelerate our practical work to support a potential deal. So we will now move into an operational phase.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ROBERTSON: So what you're hearing there, in other words, is a very clear pushback against what Putin is saying about not allowing weapons or support or military support to go into Ukraine during this period or in the future after that.

Zelenskyy, who was on that call as well, also been speaking today, saying he was very, very grateful for the support and saying very clearly now, Russia is in an isolated position and it's up to them to make a move. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE (through translation): Everybody understands that Ukraine needs help as never before. Everybody greeted Ukraine with the real victory in Jeddah, the diplomatic victory. Everybody considers that this is a serious progress.

And now Russia will -- it will be hard for Russia to get out of this situation. It has to show, if it agrees to cease fire, that it supports the end of the war or it wants to go on with the war. And this is what everybody is expecting and everybody will give signals both to the United States of America.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

ROBERTSON: So he went on to say something else that kind of stood out to me as well. Just a few days ago, President Putin had said that Ukrainian forces in that area of Kursk in southern -- in Russia were actually surrounded by Russian troops, Ukrainian troops surrounded.

And Putin had made a big point to that. And it made a point of, OK, we can't have a ceasefire until those troops put down their weapons. And then President Trump in a Truth Social posting said to President Putin -- President Trump said, I asked him to spare their lives in effect.

And then Putin pretty quickly came back and said, OK, I'm giving them the opportunity to surrender. OK, that's the sort of background there. What does Zelenskyy say? He said that Putin is lying, that his troops there are not surrounded, that that is not the case.

So what is he in essence saying there? He is saying that Putin is trying to scam Trump. I think we're going to hear a lot more of this. And as evidence, Zelenskyy said, look, just look at the satellite imagery, just look at where, and he said, President Trump and other allies were able to do this.

Just look on your technology information, the satellite imagery, all of that, and you'll be able to see where the Russian troops are, where we are, you can work it out for yourselves.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nic Robertson in London, thanks so much.

All right, still ahead, U.S. government shutdown averted. Democrats may have helped avoid a crisis by voting in favor of a Republican funding bill, but did that act of bipartisanship create a crisis within its own party?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:24:10]

WHITFIELD: All right, the stopgap spending bill to fund the U.S. government for the next six months is now headed to President Trump's desk for him to sign into law. The GOP plan passed the U.S. Senate Friday night with just hours before the midnight deadline, avoiding a government shutdown, and it crossed the finish line with Democrats' help.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox explains why.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: After a tumultuous week on Capitol Hill, a government shutdown was averted on Friday night with nine Democrats, one Independent, joining with Republicans on a key procedural vote that advanced this bill.

Ultimately, a lot of those same Democrats who were willing to advance the legislation voted against it, but by that point, the vote only required a simple majority. That means Republicans were able to carry it, and it's been a really hard week for Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who has argued repeatedly that he saw no off-ramp if Democrats went over this spending deadline, arguing that at that point, they would be at the mercy of a Republican-controlled White House, Republican-controlled Senate, Republican-controlled House to get out of it.

[12:25:18]

His argument, Democrats have lost a lot of leverage given the fact that they do not have control of any of those chambers. But that has really infuriated a lot of House Democrats who were largely unified in bringing and voting against this bill in the House of Representatives.

House Republicans carried this largely on their own. They were able to send it to the Senate, and ultimately, it was just up to a handful of Democrats to keep the government open over the weekend and into the next several months.

WHITFIELD: Lauren Fox, thank you so much.

All right, joining me right now to talk more about this is Julian Zelizer. He is a CNN political analyst and a historian and professor at Princeton University. Julian, great to see you.

All right, so the U.S. Senate --

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: -- passing this funding bill to keep the government open, but it highlighted a deep divide, the vote, rather, for this -- the passing of this. It highlighted a deep divide within the Democratic Party after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he would vote to pass it. How do you think the party will plot to kind of move forward or build strategy?

ZELIZER: Well, either the plot will be, first, to try to find different leadership, and that ranges from talk of a potential primary to Senator Schumer to internal pressure for a new kind of leader. Second would be not to focus on him, but to focus on some kind of strategy.

I think as much as the deal was controversial, the lack of strategy among Democrats on Capitol Hill is really bothering both centrists and progressives. And there's a sense of, in the middle of a political crisis, Democrats don't have a game plan, and this exposed that, the back and forth. So, one of those two paths. The second might allow Senator Schumer to survive.

WHITFIELD: And so this lack of strategy, meaning there really doesn't seem to be any real cohesion among the party members?

ZELIZER: Yes, and I think there's not a plan. Many Democrats in the House thought the plan was to oppose it, and many senators thought the same, and all of a sudden, Senator Schumer flipped. That happens in congressional politics, but I think they want some kind of vision of what the next few months will look like from the Democratic perspective to try to check the administration.

WHITFIELD: So part of Senator Schumer's defense, you know, of getting on board with the bill was the level of power he said a shutdown would have given Trump on top of the economic impact, a shutdown would impose. Despite that explanation, you know, why do you think so many other Democrats are livid? Is it because of the way in which he made that announcement, or is it just the very fact that he and a few other Democrats got on board?

ZELIZER: Some of it is both frustration with him switching, frustration with some Democrats joining. What's a pretty draconian piece of legislation that gives the administration wide leeway to try to maneuver and do what they want with congressional funds.

On the other hand, Senator Schumer, it's true. The Democrats don't have much power, and they're dealing with an administration, frankly, that would be fine with the government shutting down. So it creates an imbalance.

And in that moment, Senator Schumer argues it could have gotten worse. The president could have used that to not reopen parts of government, to get rid of more workers. So it's a terrible situation for the Democrats, and I think he's trying to sort through while surviving as a leader what to do next.

WHITFIELD: This, you know, budget will carry them through our country through September. But in the meantime, what might be another juncture or opportunity for the Democrats to try to flex what muscle they have, show what kind of leverage they have, despite the fact that it's a Republican-controlled Congress and White House?

ZELIZER: Well, some of this might result from what the administration and the Republicans are doing. I think that's part of what Schumer is thinking. So as the details of the reconciliation package, which is the broader budget, become clear, and Republicans start putting their cards on the table, will they be making steep cuts to Medicaid, which is the only way to actually achieve the numbers they're looking for?

Let the public respond. Let the public do some of the work for the Democrats, including in red states. More and more people will be unhappy as they start to see the details of what's going to be cut, what services will be gone, and what it means for their lives. We're already seeing this in some Republican districts and states, at town halls, and even informally.

So I think the next juncture is as those details become more controversial, which they will, then do Democrats have a message about what alternative they would offer moving forward into 2026.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Julian Zelizer, always a pleasure to see you. Thank you so much.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: A rare and extremely dangerous tornado watch has been issued for more than 3 million people in Louisiana and much of Mississippi as dangerous storms rip through the South. We've got the tracking for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:35:12]

WHITFIELD: We're continuing to follow breaking news. A life threatening situation underway. Right now a severe storm threat and tornado warnings are in effect across the Southeast. We've just learned of another person killed in the storms bringing the death toll to now 14 across Missouri and Arkansas overnight. We're also watching reports of spread damage in other forms. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is back with us to give us an update. So what are you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, so we're continuing to see the forward progression of those tornado watches. We've had several this morning and we're going to continue to see them through the afternoon hours.

So here's a look at the overall scope of the storm that we've been talking about. Again, it stretches from the Canadian border all the way back down to the Gulf coast. But the worst of it is really hovered right over much of the Southeast. This is where we have those tornado watches.

Now, the one in Louisiana, that is valid until 1:00 p.m. Central Time this afternoon, the next for portions of Mississippi, this one goes until 6:00 p.m. Central Time. This is labeled a PDS that stands for particularly dangerous situation.

And they are emphasizing that within this. We're not just talking a tornado warning here and there, but you are talking the potential for long tracking significant tornadoes on the ground. We are also anticipating in a few moments to get a new tornado watch in effect for much of Alabama as we go through the rest of the day. Again, that will likely stick around for several hours.

And it's because of all these things you see here, the orange ones indicate severe thunderstorm warnings, the pinkish purple color, those are tornado warnings. And the one here in western Mississippi, this one has had a history of producing an actual tornado. There's video, there's photos of it. So again, keep that in mind as it continues to track eastward and northward.

They're going to likely continue a lot of those warnings just simply because of the threat that's already been there and likely could continue. So you're talking places like Greenwood and then a little bit farther off to the east as this progresses because basically anywhere you see on this map right here, this is where the target point is going to be for today. Then tomorrow it shifts a little bit farther eastward.

Yes, the threat diminishes a little. You're only looking at a slight risk, a level 2. However, the threats themselves remain the same. You still have the potential for a tornado or two. You still have the potential for damaging winds as well as hail. It's just not as great of a threat for those really violent tornadoes and the long tracking ones that we are anticipating for today.

And that word violent, we talked about that earlier, Fred. It's not a random adjective. It actually means something. It's for the Storm Prediction center that typically means EF Fours and EF5. Those are the highest end of the scale that you can get when we talk about tornadoes. They make up only 1 percent of the total tornadoes, but they account for 66 percent of the fatalities. So please, please take this seriously.

WHITFIELD: Very serious. All right. Thank you so much, Allison Chinchar. We'll see you again. All right. A federal appeals court now is allowing the Trump administration to enforce its anti DEI orders. Two of the three judges raised concerns about anti DEI directives, but decided the Trump administration can proceed.

This decision comes after a judge's ruling paused those executive orders in February, calling them likely unconstitutional.

So as the White House continues to reduce the size of federal government, this week, DOGE proposed cutting the IRS workforce by nearly 20 percent in the next two months. The agency has fired thousands of workers and auditors in the middle of tax season. And now sources inside the IRS are telling CNN that it appears DOGE's priority is accessing its vast data systems. CNN's Julia Benbrook is in Washington, D.C. for us.

Julia, the effort to remake the IRS seems to be well underway. What can you tell us about what it is being reduced to or built up to be?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, new CNN reporting is really giving us a glimpse at what some of these IRS workers are going through. Interviews with CNN, multiple current and former IRS employees describe the atmosphere right now as one of intimidation, especially when it comes to career staffers.

And so here's how one employee described these DOGE efforts and how those are going on. They said, quote, they're just randomly dropping by people's offices demanding access to systems. They're bullying us. And there's no discipline in what they're doing, which really worries me.

Another current IRS employee who works outside of washing and is actually a local union leader has said that they're concerned about morale. They said that they have seen people crying and they've actually seen managers going around and apologizing for firings that they have no say in.

Now, over the last month, as DOGE has set up inside the IRS, we've already seen thousands of firings of workers and auditors and seen them set out to shutter 110 tax assistance offices across the country.

[12:40:00]

Widespread layoffs are also expected coming May 15. That's expected to cut at least 20 percent of that overall workforce. So that happening over the next two months. And in response to some of the reporting that I've pointed out here, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, quote, the story is based on anonymous sources and the fraudsters always scream the loudest. The vast majority of Americans support President Trump rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.

And as you pointed out at the beginning, Fred, the timing of this, it's all coming in the height in the middle of tax season. WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook, thank you so much. Still ahead,

quote, we are paralyzed what IRS employees are revealing about DOGE's chaotic takeover of the agency as Elon Musk plans to cut nearly 20 percent of its employees. More on that reporting.

Plus, a major legal win for the Trump administration's crackdown on DEI.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:45:50]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. For the first time we're hearing the chilling moments when a surviving roommate of the Idaho quadruple murderers made a terrifying disc call from that day was just released and reveals the dramatic moments after one of the four University of Idaho students was found unconscious. Let's bring in now CNN's Julia Vargas Jones for the very latest. Julia, tell us more.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, we're getting the most harrowing glimpse yet into what was going on inside that home where those roommates lived in November 2022. Just the fear and confusion they were going through. I want to play for you the moment the call was placed. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911, location of your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Something is happening. Something happened in hour house. We don't know what.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is the address of the emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 1122 --

(END AUDIO CLIP)

JONES: Throughout that call, Fred, you can hear at least two voices, possibly more, struggling to explain what was happening inside the home. The panic in their voice as they tried to give their address before breaking into tears. That goes on for about four minutes. And at times multiple voices are heard speaking with the dispatcher.

At one point, that dispatcher urges the caller to not pass the phone around anymore because the confusion starts to escalate and the caller first reports an unresponsive roommate and says they had seen a man inside their home the night before. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I just tell you what happened pretty much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is going on currently? Is someone passed out right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't really know, but pretty much at 4:00 am.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, I need to know what's going on right now. If someone has passed out, can you find that out?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'll come. Come on. We got to go check. But we have to. She's passed out, what's wrong? She's not waking up.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

JONES: That's heartbreaking. We also know from those court filings that before this call, the surviving roommates had texted each other about seeing that masked man in the house. The messages were sent nearly eight hours earlier and around the time investigators now believe that the murders were happening. But it wasn't until nearly noon that day that they dialed 911.

Prosecutors are saying that this call, along with the text messages, are helping establish a timeline that they will present at trial. But the defense may argue that the delay in calling 911 and the multiple voices speaking with the dispatcher might raise some questions about what the surviving roommates understood at the time they called.

Bryan Kohberger, the 30-year-old man accused of these murders, is set to go on trial in August. He has pleaded not guilty and could face the death penalty if convicted. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much for that. All right. President Trump spent part of his Friday at the Department of Justice delivering a norm shattering political address reminiscent of one of his campaign rallies.

He traveled to Great hall of the DOJ to make a speech that the White House said was about law and order. But Trump also used much of his address to rail against his perceived political and legal enemies as well as the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We will expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government. We will expose and very much expose their egregious crimes and severe misconduct of which was levels you've never seen anything like it.

We had to take all of that abuse, even during the trials. We had to take tremendous abuse like, you know, these wonderful guys, they're not legitimate people. They're horrible people. They're scum. And you have to know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITIFIELD: I'm joined now by Jeffrey Jacobovitz. He's a trial and defense attorney as well as an adjunct law professor at the Washington College of Law at American University. All right, Jeffrey. Well, how do those words sit with you?

JEFFREY JACOBOVITZ, TRIAL ATTORNEY, ARNALL GOLDEN GREGORY: Well, the words were very similar to what you just said. I mean, this was not a normal speech at the Great Hall. It was very unusual.

[12:50:01]

If you look at recent presidents Obama and Biden, Obama has appeared at the Great Hall, but it was really to introduce a new procedure, and Biden stayed away from it, and Merrick Garland wanted him to stay away from it because his son was under indictment or under investigation.

So this was a campaign speech, and the only part that really dealt with crime was the fentanyl aspect of it. And they had the mother whose son who had died of fentanyl. But even that was very political, and it's something we haven't seen.

WHITFIELD: And then, you know, among the longtime leaders, you know, within the Department of Justice, rank and file members of the Justice Department, which is supposed to be nonpartisan, what might they be thinking and feeling right now?

JACOBOVITZ: I have a feeling they weren't in the room. And you had a lot of the supporters for Trump and the recent political appointees, because they were --

WHITFIELD: But they either watched it, you know, live on television or they read about it. You know, how does this rattle them at all?

JACOBOVITZ: It rattles them significantly, but it doesn't really change much of their rattle that's occurred in the last month or so. And many of them are losing jobs. Many of them who worked on the January 6 cases or other cases involving Trump are losing jobs. And the federal bureaucracy is really scared.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I mean, plus, you know, the president kept using words, law and order, the White House promoting law and order. That's what this was supposed to be about. Yet, Trump and his team demonstrate a normalcy to, you know, defying court orders. You know, plus that database, the U.S. Department of Justice's National Law Enforcement Accountability Database, which is designed, you know, to curtail or at least track misconduct within law enforcement that was dismantled shortly after inauguration.

So what do you say about these? I mean, very clear contradictions about the importance of the Department of Justice and its mission.

JACOBOVITZ: Well, Fred, if they're going to defy court orders, it will end up in the Supreme Court. And it will be up to John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett in terms of who you hold in contempt and whether you can hold them in contempt.

It's unlikely you can hold President Trump in contempt because he's not a party to the proceeding. But almost all of the court decisions have been going against them, although they've won a few of the appellate decisions, but it will end up in the Supreme Court.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeffrey Jacobovitz, it's always great to see you. Thanks so much.

JACOBOVITZ: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, Pope Francis will not be getting out of the hospital anytime soon. What the Vatican is saying about his condition next. And you're watching live pictures near Jackson, Mississippi, where a strong and dangerous line of storms is moving in. The forecast straight ahead.

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[12:57:41]

WHITFIELD: The Vatican says while Pope Francis remains in stable condition, his release from a hospital is not imminent. The Pontiff is being treated for pneumonia and has been hospitalized for more than A month now. CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau is joining us from Rome with more on his condition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Well, we're very much at the no news is good news stage of Pope Francis recovery here at the Gemelli Hospital behind me. His doctors have said that they will not be updating the press and the public with a detailed health bulletin unless and until there is a need to do so. That means his condition has stabilized within this very complex clinical picture.

Pope Francis came into the hospital on February 14th with bronchitis. Then that turned into double pneumonia and he's had a couple of episodes of respiratory crisis which he's recovered from. Now it's all about his mobility and working towards physical therapy and respiratory therapy in order to gain strength to eventually get out of the hospital. But the Vatican and his doctors have said that they are not able yet to determine just how much longer he'll have to stay in the hospital.

He's been actively participating through video link in the prayers and spiritual exercises that are going on here in Rome with the various clerics that are here for the Lenten season. And he's just working towards his recovery with so many pilgrims praying every night in St. Peter's Square, praying the rosary and gathering here at the hospital behind me, leaving mementos and candles and their prayers for a full recovery. Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredericka Whitfield and we start with this breaking news. A dangerous storm system is sweeping across the central and southeastern U.S. at this hour. It's the second round of severe weather after a deadly tornado outbreak overnight.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's here. It's here. Look at all that debris. Oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in a tornado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in a tornado.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:05:00]

WHITFIELD: Tornado damage widespread in parts of Missouri at the death to --